Ducks' 20th Anniversary Team

Chris Pronger graces the the Ducks' 20th Anniversary all-time first team at defenseman. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FIRST TEAM

LW Paul Kariya

C Ryan Getzlaf

RW Teemu Selanne

D Chris Pronger

D Scott Niedermayer

G Jean-Sebastien Giguere

SECOND TEAM

LW Bobby Ryan

C Steve Rucchin

RW Corey Perry

D Francois Beauchemin

D Oleg Tverdovsky

G Guy Hebert

THIRD TEAM

LW Chris Kunitz

C Andy McDonald

RW Petr Sykora

D Ruslan Salei

D Fredrik Olausson

G Jonas Hiller

The top 20 players in Anaheim Ducks history:

1. Teemu Selanne

Is there any doubt about this one? A superstar who first arrived to Anaheim in 1996, Selanne remarkably re-emerged as a top-flight NHL star at 35 after reconstructive surgery to fix his right knee. The Finnish Flash got his Stanley Cup in 2007 and has remained a big part of the Ducks into his 40s. With the Ducks have come 448 of his 675 goals, 513 of his 755 assists and 961 of his 1,430 points, all of which are the most in the club’s annals by far. Countless jerseys sold with his name on the back and tickets sold because of his presence.

2. Paul Kariya

Kariya will always be the Mighty Ducks’ first star. There were contentious contract issues that perked up during his nine seasons in Anaheim but there was not a better left wing in the game during the late 1990s. At the time of his departure in 2003, Kariya held club records with 300 goals, 369 assists and 669 points. His dramatic Game 6 goal in the Stanley Cup final after being laid out by New Jersey’s Scott Stevens is still one of the greatest moments to have ever taken place at Honda Center (nee Arrowhead Pond).

3. Scott Niedermayer

His 13 seasons and three Stanley Cups with New Jersey obviously stand out, but Niedermayer’s contributions in his five years with the Ducks are equally impressive. The biggest free-agent signing in the club’s history became their universally respected captain and leader, coming up with big momentum-changing plays during their 2006 and 2007 postseason runs. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in ’07 as the playoffs MVP in the Cup run and heads into the Hockey Hall of Fame this November. His No. 27 could wind up in the Honda Center rafters.

4. Corey Perry

No matter what he does from now on, Perry will always have his magical 2010-11 season where he put up 50 goals and 98 points in winning the Hart Trophy and becoming the first Ducks player to be selected as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. But he’s been an elite right wing for a while, topping 30 goals two other times and averaging 35 over a five-season span from 2007-08 to 2011-12. That production got him an eight-year, $69-million contract extension.

5. Ryan Getzlaf

Now entrenched as the Ducks’ captain, Getzlaf is building his legacy after signing his own eight-year contract extension. The big center is already third on the club’s scoring list and responded to a poor 2011-12 campaign with one of his best – 15 goals, 34 assists in 44 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13. Perry’s MVP campaign doesn’t happen if one of the NHL’s top playmakers isn’t getting him the puck.

6. Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Simply put, the Mighty Ducks’ inspirational 2003 run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final does not happen without Giguere. He became the fifth player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ MVP as part of the losing team. Four years later, “Jiggy” captured the Cup. He holds franchise goalie marks for victories (206), shutouts (32) and starts (431) while recording a more-than-credible 2.47 goals-against average.

7. Chris Pronger

Pronger is destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame and it’s a shame his career is effectively over because of post-concussion syndrome. He’s probably too far down on this list only because he played in just three seasons with the Ducks. But he was exactly what they needed in 2007, bringing elite-level talent and a mean streak to a team that was already on the rise. The star defenseman was the final piece to the 2007 Cup team.

8. Bobby Ryan

He’s in Ottawa now and played just five-plus years in a Ducks uniform, but the No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft scored 30 or more goals in four seasons. Few have provided more highlight-reel moments than the often-exciting Ryan. One of the most memorable Ducks’ playoff goals was by Ryan against Nashville in the 2011 playoffs. No player other than Selanne oozed more personality in recent years than the second No. 9.

9. Steve Rucchin

There’s no question that Rucchin benefitted from having Paul Kariya on his left side and Teemu Selanne on his right, but the popular center often did the dirty work and got the puck to his high-profile teammates, who could focus on scoring. And lest we forget that it was his overtime goal to cap a stunning first-round sweep of Detroit to start the magical 2003 playoff run.

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